Out of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, efforts that work towards shifting away from fossil fuels and instead exploring and bettering clean energy work to fulfil at least three:
1.Affordable & Clean Energy
2.Sustainable Cities & Communities
3.Climate Action
The first would be the direct result while the remaining 2, and arguably more SDGs, would be an indirect result of enhancing affordable and clean energy.
First, let’s take a look at the big picture. For simplicity’s sake, we are just looking at a handful of countries to serve as a microcosm of how we might deal with all of the world’s countries and their unique strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
For some important context lets look at the economic state of these countries. This will provide us insight into the current state of the country and the opportunities, or lack thereof, that could be pursued.
India and the US, which stuck out as big emitters in the first figure, are on opposite ends of the GDP ranges, this means that different solutions may be implemented depending on what is achievable and reasonable for that region.
Since there is an economic disparity between the two countries we are targeting, lets look at the affordability of our clean energy options.
Historically, using clean energy would simply not be practical or sustainable for developing countries with less resources, and using Fossil Fuels would have been the only viable option. However, with these advancements, integrating more clean energy sources would not be as costly.
| Source | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bioenergy | 0.0724731 |
| Concentrated solar power | 0.1066530 |
| Geothermal | 0.0542640 |
| Hydropower | 0.0459659 |
| Offshore wind | 0.0862658 |
| Onshore wind | 0.0448345 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 0.0641493 |
Looking at these costs, the most cost-effective clean energy implementations for India would be Hydroelectric & Onshore Wind.
India’s Hydroelectric potential is mostly unfulfilled at this point, with only 29% developed. The Himalayan regions are an untapped source, which could increase their capacity greatly. There are currently several projects underway that aim to take advantage of these opportunities.
India’s Onshore wind market is currently ranked fourth-largest in the world! Producing roughly 51GW (enough to power ~45 million homes).
The United States’ GDP is not a limiting factor as it is for India; in this case, we should examine which power source(s) will deliver the best “bang for our buck”.
| Technology | Electricity statistics |
|---|---|
| Total renewable | 959231.98 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 183812.46 |
| Onshore wind energy | 439125.51 |
| Offshore wind energy | 144.72 |
| Renewable hydropower | 256601.19 |
| Biogas | 10258.04 |
| Geothermal energy | 19142.16 |
| Total non-renewable | 3536136.13 |
| Coal and peat | 913301.90 |
| Oil | 42512.71 |
| Natural gas | 1740420.84 |
| Nuclear | 803668.57 |
room for improvement /current progress
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aim to produce achievable goals. This means we must look carefully at where improvements can be made and how we can make them within the constraints of the Country’s capabilities. Especially when considering developing countries, like India, we must recognize that already-developed countries historically used fossil fuels because they are cheap, available, and dependable sources of energy. If we wish for developing countries not to follow in our footsteps, then we must provide a solution that is on par with, or better than, using fossil fuels.
In contrast, for already developed countries, with more robust infrastructure and economies, we should shift our focus and look at clean energy sources that are suited to the landscape and are the most efficient.